


Keith x mystery man

by klainesangel



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29166987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klainesangel/pseuds/klainesangel
Summary: After a game of Drink or Dare leads Keith to download a gay dating app, he finds that perhaps not everything is as it seems...





	Keith x mystery man

**Author's Note:**

> sup guys  
> whenever a message is written like this:
> 
> \- hello!   
>  it means it's Keith talking  
> every other message is just how the others talk.

The light from the screen illuminated his face, a harsh contrast against the dark of the room. 

He rubbed softly at his eyes and reached for his phone, unplugging it and rolling back to face the wall. The notification was from that dating app he’d downloaded the day before. Originally it was just a joke, Park and Shannon had dared him to and well, Keith never was one for backing down from a dare. 

So, he had made an account, complete with his trademark, questionable bio. He’d matched with a few nice-looking men and women, none of them really sparking anything in him though. The conversations dragged and it felt more like a chore replying to their messages than an actual chat. 

That was, until now. 

It’s a match! Slide to start a conversation now. 

“mph... why the hell not” 

And so, he did. 

\- Hey good looking 

uhh, hiya 

\- What're you up to ; ) 

Keith stared at his screen waiting for his reply, and decided to take a peek at his profile 

The guy he’d matched with didn’t have any pictures on his profile, and his bio was as basic as you could get. What’s worse, he had written ‘I’m a dude’ 

‘don't people know what pronouns are? jesus christ’ he thought 

nothing really, just lying in bed 

\- Ohhh, sounds exciting 

hah. 

Great. How the hell is he supposed to reply to that? 

\- what about you? You doing anything...exciting? 

Define exciting. 

‘Perfect, now I sound like a perv...oh well.’ 

\- You know, just. You up to anything? 

Haha, nah just chilling 

And that was it. What an exhilarating conversation. 

Slowly, he rolled back on his side and returned the phone to where it was sitting 15 minutes ago. 

And he slept. 

As the sun began to rise the next morning, Keith moaned in his sleep. The rays peeking through the slight gap in his curtains. 

“Ahhh, Mondays” he groaned, turning away from the light. He really didn’t want to get up today. Just like he didn’t want to get up every day. But alas, he rolled out from beneath the covers and set about his usual morning routine. 

Teeth, hair, clothes, cry, take a shit, rush to pack his bag and gobble down half a sandwich before bolting out the door. Less time he had to spend downstairs the better. 

His brisk and cold venture down to the bus top was as uneventful as it was last week. Checking his phone as he went, Keith noticed another notification from the app he had been using last night, and when he opened it, he saw it was that same weird guy. 

Honestly, he had no pace to call the guy ‘weird’ when he didn’t even know him. They’d barely exchanged 10 messages, and he had no grounds to base his dislike of him on anything other than the fact the guy seemed like a total looser, and not the ‘fun and charming Park’ kind of looser. 

\- Hi again :0 hope I didn’t scare you off last night 

Oh hey, no dw, I actually sorta fell asleep mid-message. 

When he read that, he laughed to himself. Picturing a faceless mystery-man dozing off, his phone falling on his face. Yea, worth a chuckle. 

“You're in a good mood this morning!” Shannon shouted as he made his way across the street towards her. Shannon and Keith got the bus to school every morning together and had done so for the last 6 years. 

“Nah, you just caught me in a good moment,” he replied. 

“Ah, ok” she frowned a bit, wondering if he was ok, but also not wanting to get too into it if he didn’t want to. So, she opted for a simple “How are you then?” 

“Okay, tired as shit but-” 

“What's new there.” Shannon cut him off. 

“Ha, yea true.” He smiled at that. 

He looked down at his phone and considered telling Shannon about the weird guy, but decided against it. When the bus finally arrived, they took their usual seats at the back and rode to school making idle chit-chat. Keith occasionally checked his phone for any new messages and strangely, became disappointed when his notifs remained clear. 

“Goodmorning looser,” Keith dragged as he slapped the back of Park’s head. “move your chair.” 

As they did, Keith slid into the seat beside them, and Shannon took the seat in front. 

“Whore.” they muttered back, smiling as they did. “Anway, how are you two?” 

“Peachy with a side of fucking exhausted. I was up all night reading this new BL, it’s so cute. Little pe Park was usually still grouchy and the talk about Keith’s sexy hentai made them squirm. He always found it fun to see how uncomfortable he could make them before school even started. 

Shannon huffed a laugh and moved to slap Keith's hand away from where it was slowly crawling up Park's arm. They're face was buried in their hands now and Keith snorted as he pulled back. 

“Why am I friends with you two, oh my god.” Park looked up and shook their head. 

“I don’t know but I doubt you're getting out of it now.” Shannon laughed again. 

Keith had zoned out a few minutes into their conversation, Park had started on about some wiki article they’d read about some random shit. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, it's just the buzzing in his pocket made it kind of difficult to focus. 

Hey you still there? 

\- Sorry I didn’t reply earlier, something came up. 

Nb, how are you? 

\- Ok! At school so a little bummed about that but whatever. 

Oh shit, that sucks 

\- Yeaa, what abt you? How are you doing? 

Nm, just tired 

‘Fuck, this guy’s dry’ Keith thought and sighed. 

“Sorry, are we boring you?” Park snapped but laughed as they spoke. 

“W-what. Oh no, sorry just-” Keith held up the phone briefly before closing it and putting it back in his pocket. 

“Ohhh right right.” They said before turning back to Shannon and continuing their thrilling conversation, something about atoms or something? He really wasn’t sure. 

Just then, the bell rang and their form teacher perked up from where she was sitting staring at her computer, and began some rousing speech about mental health week. 

“yea, as if they give a crap” Keith whispered and Park and Shannon snickered under their breath. 

Following form class, the trio split up and went about their daily classes, occasionally passing by each other in the halls or joining up during free periods. The same as they had done for the last year or so, ever since they’d moved into sixth year, they had a lot more freedom compared to what they used to. 

\- Hi again. You ever think about what way dogs would wear pants? 

Em, sorry what? 

\- Come on, indulge me. 

Fine. First off, they wouldn’t. They’d wear skirts. And they’d put them on back legs first. 

\- … 

\- You're kidding me 

I'm being deadly serious 

\- Wow 

What? 

\- I didn’t expect to actually answer me 

You asked, I answered. And for the record; your question was incredibly intresting. 

\- Omg, thank you. This info has enlightened me quite a bit. 

My pleasure 

“God that’s disgusting” park sighed. 

“Wait what is.” Keith’s eye’s darted away from his phone and looked across the table at Park. ‘what the hell did they do to their hair now? It was red last week now its black? How do they even have hair left?-’ 

“The thing, on the board. Look.” they lifted their head from where it was resting on the table and nodded at the white board up front. The teacher was explaining something about sexual intercourse and, even Keith had to admit it was pretty gross. 

His phone went off again in his pocket and his hand flew to grab it and switch to silent. Park’s eyes glided over to Keith's and they nodded as if to ask ‘you good?’ to which Keith replied with a wide-eyed smile. Before he closed his phone again though, Keith checked his messages and saw one from- 

“Toby?” he whispered. 

Park perked up again and shifted to look at Keith’s screen. “Is he alright?” 

“What? Oh, yea yea he’s fine. I think. I just haven't talked to him in a while.” He replied with a sad smile. 

They’d been so busy recently with school and work, he hardly had time to talk to even his closest friends never mind the friends he didn’t see on the daily. It had been months since him and Toby had had a proper chat. It wasn’t like they didn’t try, they often talked about minor controversy's they’d seen on Instagram or Toby commented on one of Keith’s rant posts. They had been meeting at Keith's house on Fridays for a while but that eventually fell through when Keiths job asked him to start working night shifts on Fridays to accommodate for his drivers ed classes in the afternoons. Nothing like what they used to have. So yea, it was rough and he missed him. 

Hi, can we talk? 

\- Way to be fucking cryptic but of course we can 

Great, thanks. Look I'm free on Saturday and I was wondering if it was ok if I swing by? 

Actually, I don’t care about our answer I'm coming anyway 

Point is, bring ur friends. I wanna show yous something. 

\- Toby 

\- Are you propositioning an orgy? 

What 

\- God it certainly took you long enough 

I really hate you sometimes 

\- You love me and you know it 

It was weird how easy it was to slip back into their old ways of texting. Keith’s flirting coming on strong, as it usually did whenever he was close with someone. 

“It’s funny, out of all the things I missed the most about him, it was seeing his reactions to my random flirting,” Keith spoke. 

“Ah yes, if asking if you can suck someone's cock 20 minutes after meeting them counts as flirting, you're certainly an ace in that field.” Park kicked Keith under the table and laughed. 

“What can I say, I'm a natural, besides you're just jealous 'cause you’ve never touched a dick in your life.” He looked down at his phone once more and re-read the messages Toby had sent. “Hey Park, you're free on Saturday, right?” 

He glanced back up at his friend and nearly pissed himself when he saw Park’s face. He remembered his previous comment about ‘lack of dick touching’ and suddenly the horror on their face made sense. 

“calm down nerd, answer the damn question.” 

“I-I'm, no. I mean yes, yes I'm free on Saturday. Why?” 

“Toby wants you two and me to meet up. Says he wants to show us something. My bets on an orgy but he seems to fridgety about it to be that so...” he wiggled his eyebrows “You up for it?” 

“Fine, but I'm not fucking, or getting fucked for that matter, by anyone. You understand?” Park turned and faced the board again. 

Conversations like these definitely should not be had at the back of a science classroom surrounded by other students with ears, because shit like this has happened and it always ends the same way. The students sitting at the table in front of them were turned and staring directly at Keith and Park. 

“You are so fucking weird.” One of them spat. 

“Up your ass, Nathan.” Keith huffed. 

Shannon walked into the hall and made her way over to the stage. The same spot they’d sat every day for the last 3 years. 

“You won't fucking believe what happened in sports science,” she spoke. 

Park looked away from his textbook and inclined for her to continue. 

Keith on the other hand was too buried in his phone to even realize she had arrived. 

\- So, you think dogs would wear pink tutus or more slim-fitting, navy skirts? 

Really? The dog thing again? 

\- Yes. 

Ur ridiculous 

Tutus. 

\- And why do you say that? 

Because it’s obvious. Not all dogs could pull off the skinny secretary look, whereas every single dog suits a fluffy pink tutu. 

\- I see your point. 

\- Ok then, what's your opinion on accessories? 

I’m not answering that. 

\- OH COME ONNN 

No 

\- Please? 

… 

Big dogs wear those unicorn hat things, the smaller dogs defiantly wear cowboy hats or fedoras. 

\- Have you thought about this before? Because that’s a very specific answer for someone who claims to not have an interest in canine fashion. 

There was this one time...but I punched them in the ribs and we agreed to never speak of it again. 

At that, Keith laughed but faltered slightly. There were only 2 other people he remembers asking that question, and only one of them responded with physical violence. And that was- 

“Keith, are you even listening?” Shannon snapped. 

“What? Oh, yea. Sports science, bladdy blah, you hate your teacher bladdy blah. Let me guess, a crapload of homework and not enough time to get it finished?” he retorted. 

“Actually, she was saying about how her new substitute teacher called her a good girl and it was very funny but you would've had to hear the story to understand.” Park chuckled. 

“Oh,” Keith replied. 

“So, fess up. Who is she?” Shannon lent forward and pointed at his phone. 

“She? Oh, not she, and he's no one.” 

“Right, no one! Should've known, only ‘no one's’ grabs your un-dying attention for the majority of our joined class.” Park crooked an eyebrow. 

“I'm being serious, just someone I matched with on that app y’all made me download.” Keith deadpanned 

“Oh, yea.” Shannon was trying her best not to laugh but suddenly the memories of that night came flooding back to her. It was either create a profile on a gay dating app or take another shot, and by this point, Keith had already had about 14 shots and Park had advised that if he had many more he might pass out. So, gay dating profile it was. 

“Wait, the gay one?” Park didn’t even try to cover up they're laughter.

“Do you remember what you had to do for your dare?” Keith smirked and Park's laughter stopped almost immediately. 

“Please God don’t remind me” 

Shannon suddenly paled at the memory too and they all fell silent. Keith had dared Park to either take 5 straight shots or Shannon and they had to improvise a scene from fifty shades of grey. The alcohol mixed with the dramatic playlist Keith had put on had resulted in a very awkward retelling of a particularly risqué scene. 

“Exactly,” Keith replied. 

And that was that. Everyone was too embarrassed to talk about anything else for at least 20 minutes and then the bell rang the three of them jumped at the chance to depart. 

The rest of the day was extremely uneventful and ended with a single free period. Most of which Keith spent on his phone talking to mysterio. 

\- So, you gonna tell me your name? 

What? 

\- Your name? Do you have a name? 

It’s on my profile 

\- No, I mean your real name, I refuse to call you ‘MealsOnHeels’ for the rest of my life 

Do you plan on talking to me for the rest of your life? 

\- … 

\- That’s beside the point. 

Well, your one to talk considering your screen name is ‘DazsJuicyCock06’ 

\- My username is wonderful shut up 

Sureee, anyway my names Colbin 

\- Colbin? You're kidding. 

I'm not 

Why? 

\- It's just, weird name is all. 

Wow thanks 

\- No problem :D 

So what’d you get saddled with? 

\- Less saddled, more graced. And it’s... 

Keith stopped typing for a second. ‘I don’t even know I this Colbin guy is real, I mean he could be a complete pedophile for all I know. Do I really wanna give him my name?’ So he decided to use a fake name for now, and if it came to a point where he needed to reveal his real name, he would just explain. 

\- ...Victor! 

Victor? Nice, very sexy. 

At that, Keith felt his heart drop. So far, this guy hadn't flirted back at him at all, in fact he seemed uncomfortable. But then Keith remembered. This is a GAY DATING app, and he was talking to a GAY DUDE. As far as Colbin knew, Keith himself was a gay dude. 

‘Of course he would start flirting you dumbass he came on here looking for a date not a friend.’ Keith mentally slapped himself. 

\- Umm, Haha tanks. Yours isn't too bad either. 

You just told me it was weird. 

\- Yea well that was before you said mine was sexy so now I feel bad. 

Oh so you're complimenting me out of GUILT huh? 

\- What? 

\- OH NO 

\- NONO I meant it in a way like 

\- Ya know 

\- Let's just say I'm seeing you in a new light 

Cause I said your name is sexy? 

Ok. 

Just as Keith began typing out his next message the final bell rang and he pocketed his phone to leave. 

As he walked through the halls at a swift pace as to not miss the bus, he thought about Colbin, about what he looked like, what his voice sounded like, where he lived. Stuff he hadn't really asked him about yet. But he had a name now, he wasn’t just the mystery boy. 

‘I've known this guy a day and I'm already wondering this stuff...what the fuck is going on’ he thought. 

The bus ride home was joyful and Shannon was ranting about how someone passed out in math, Keith tried to listen as best he could but his mind kept drifting back to what Colbin said earlier. 

‘very sexy’ he replayed the words over and over again in his head, even went back and looked at the message a few times on the way up the hill just to make sure he’d actually read it correctly. And every time, he had. It definitely said sexy. 

‘I really don’t know why I'm getting worked up about this, first off; it's not even my real name, and second; he doesn’t even know what I look like, so how can he find anything about me sexy?’ 

As he entered in through the front door, he pulled off his shoes and hiked up the stairs as fast as he could, like he did every. single. day. He knew it was better for the whole house if he just stayed in his room, that way he didn’t have to talk to them and they didn’t have to talk to him. 

When he finally removed his uniform and pulled on his fresh clothes, he dropped himself face-first onto his bed. Ever since he got his room remodelled and the bed changed, it just felt much more like him. He was able to properly enjoy spending every waking hour in his room. After a few moments of screaming into his pillow, he collected himself and reached for his phone, sliding up to unlock it. 

As he did, he noticed another message from Colbin. He opened it, and that began a conversation that ran long into the next morning. 

Keith learnt a lot about Colbin over the following week. He learnt that he also lived in Northern Ireland and that he was 18, his favourite colour was red and he went to an all-boys school, he liked cars and enjoyed playing sports with a few of his friends. He also learnt about more obscure things, like how Colbin once tried to kidnap a crab, or how he and his best friend used to go into town and raid this one shop o drinks and sweets and skateboard around till dark. 

Keith decided to keep Colbin a secret from Park and Shannon. For now, anyway. He wanted to see where it would go and if it seemed to be heading in a good direction, he would fill them in. For now, it was nice to have this to himself. Like his own little secret. He decided he would tell them on Saturday, that way he had something to talk about if they ran out of conversation ideas and things started getting a bit awkward. 

Colbin also learnt a lot about Keith too, like how his favourite colour was brown (Colbin had laughed at that, said it was a ‘shit’ choice. Keith found that very funny but he refused to admit it) and about all his favourite animes, he discovered they shared quite a few favourites. That led to many heated conversations about how powerful a certain Pokémon would be against a titan and how much Keith would sell his organs for Dazai. He also told Colbin how he had two very, very close best friends that he loved with all his heart. 

That’s a bit gay, isn't it? 

\- Not if I'm not gay it's not ; ) 

It took Colbin a lot longer to reply to that message. 8 minutes and 14 seconds to be exact. Keith counted.  
And it took all of 6 minutes and 28 seconds for Keith to fully realize exactly what he had just said. 

\- Oh my god 

\- I didn’t mean it like that 

\- I mean. I'm not gay 

\- Well, I don’t actually- 

\- I don’t know. 

\- Colbin I'm sorry please come back? 

What do you mean you don’t know if you're gay? 

This is a gay dating app 

For gay people 

To meet other gay people 

Where did you lose the whole concept of ‘gay’ being practically required? 

\- I know of course I know that 

\- But it’s just, I've never liked guys before, not real ones anyway 

\- Fictional sure but I've never even been remotely attracted to a real, human guy. 

\- And IDK maybe I thought if I hoped on here it would- 

He couldn’t even think of what to say next. Prove his point? Homophobic. Prove him wrong? Slightly backhanded. Change his mind? Well, that would just get him cancelled on TikTok 

It would what? 

\- Idk man 

Yea I'm sorta getting that 

'This user has blocked you.'

One week. He’d managed to meet and loose the one person that had started to really mean something to him, in the span of a week. 

But then again, it was only a week. A week wasn’t a long time, they were basically still strangers. 

So why did he suddenly feel sick? 

Saturday came. It was nice to see Toby again, there were hugs and many chats about how things were back home, how his job was going, the usual stuff. Park and Shannon weren't nearly as awkward around him as they used to be, and the four of them actually got along really well and the majority of the day passed peacefully. It wasn’t until Park had to run to Keith’s house to take a piss and Shannon was off to the side on the phone to her mum, bargaining for another few hours even though it was long past midnight at this point. 

Toby and Keith were sitting on a concrete step in the small back alley near Keith’s house, both with a cigarette in hand. Toby was scrolling through his phone idly, liking posts on Instagram; and Keith was staring off into the dark nothing that lay beyond the bush when suddenly his phone buzzed. 

He pulled the phone out of his jacket pocket with his free hand and took another drag from his joint as he read the notification. 

'MealsOnHeels2 has sent you a message.' 

He felt his heart leap into his stomach. 

Keith shut his phone off so quickly and practically through it across the pavement. Shannon was off the phone now and drinking from her almost empty coke bottle. Her eyes widened and she waddled over to where they were sitting. 

“You alright?” She asked, as she lowered down and sat on the step below Keith and Toby. 

Toby hadn't even noticed Keith's distress until Shannon had mentioned it, and even then, his only reaction was to lower his cigarette and turn to face him slightly. 

“Y-yea I'm fine. Just, saw a message from someone I haven't talked to in a while, that’s all.” He croaked out. 

Ok, lying again. Not exactly what he wanted to do, but what else could he say? He still hadn't told them and the opportunity hadn't arisen today, and seeing as it was ‘over’ he didn’t think it was necessary to mention it at all. 

Shannon gave him a doubtful look but thankfully didn’t press the issue further. She did, however, pick up his phone and hand it back to him. 

“You don’t need to reply if you don’t want to, but try not to smash your phone.” she laughed as she went to retrieve the second bottle of coke from her bag. 

Park returned from they're pissing adventure and eventually convinced Toby to each them how to jump a curb on their skateboard. He was reluctant but Park was a cunning little shit when they wanted to be. 

Shannon had sat down in the spot Toby had been sitting and lay her head lightly n Keiths shoulder. They watched as Park tried and failed to kick his board over a slight curve in the pavement, and laughed whenever Toby would sigh into his hands in frustration. 

After a while of sitting, the cold air filled with silence; she spoke. 

“You don’t have to talk about it, but you’ve been so happy all week and suddenly it's like that’s all gone away. Did something happen?” 

‘Shannon you observative cunt.’ he thought briefly. 

It took him a few minutes to form the words he wanted to say, and Shannon patiently sat and waited. She too was idly scrolling on her phone. 

“So-” he began, and Shannon's head turned slightly to indicate that she was paying attention to him now rather than her phone, but she didn’t turn the screen off. 

“You’ve liked people before, right?” He asked. 

“Yes, a few times now.” She replied. 

“And when you did, did it come gradually or quickly or... what?” 

“Well-” she shifted slightly to look back at her phone. A random TikTok was playing on loop. “Some were very gradual, months of buildup and tense moments that all lead to one of us confessing. But others were very quick, we’re talking less than a week here.” She laughed at that, he did too, remembering that crush, in particular, turned out to be a 42-year-old Russian man. “Ok maybe not the best example, but you see what I mean.” 

“Yea Haha.” He smiled at that, but there was a hint of sadness there too. 

“Why do you ask?” She spoke. 

“It's just, say I met someone, someone new and nice and wonderful, but they weren't...I didn’t know if I... what if I didn’t realize I actually liked them until they were gone?” his voice faded a bit there, and he looked back at Park and Toby, who was now laughing over some joke Toby had made. 

“You mean like...dead or? -” 

“What the hell Shannon no.” his smile returned then and he couldn't stop himself from laughing a bit. “I just mean like, you and they stopped talking or something. But you realized you didn’t want to stop talking, but its already too late?” 

“Well, I'd say that really fucking sucks.” she deadpanned, but looked up at him and smiled. “But for real, I'd say it's never too late. Not if you really care. If you really, really are, and you think they really care too, then you should both be able to sort it out. You just have to be honest and open about how you feel and hope to god they don’t block you or something.” 

Keith flinched at that; he knew there's no way she could have known but it still hurt a bit. 

“Yea, I guess. And, suppose I only knew this person say, a week? And they sort of, didn’t know my real name, would that help my case or am I just digging myself a bigger hole here?” He asked. 

“Uhhh, I would still say be open and honest, no point in lying about your name after all that. And about the week thing? You're really asking the wrong person here.” She took a swig from her coke and continued scrolling, seemingly completely unfazed by this conversation. 

“Yea.” Was all he said in response. They sat in comfortable silence, the only other noses being the roll of wheels on the pavement and the eventual patter of rain on the ground around them. 

“Park do you need a lift?” Shannon called out. 

“Ehhh would you mind? Mums' busy tonight.” They flashed their innocent shit-eating smile and puppy dog eyes, but they made no difference because Shannon always offered them a lift, and they always took it. 

The four of them said their goodbyes and split off, Park hoping in the car with Shannon and Toby walking with Keith back to his house. 

“Park’s getting better for someone who shattered most of their ribs three months ago.” He blurted out as they walked. 

Keith threw his head back in laughter and tears formed in his eyes. “And by most you mean two, right? Cause they were seriously over exaggerating that whole thing just to get out of PE” He laughed again. To be fair, It was partly his fault. 

The three of them had been walking along the road and Keith was play-fighting with Park when he pushed them a bit too far and fell into a hole full of boulders. 

“How was I supposed to know there were big ass rocks down there!” he protested when Toby gave him a slight side-eye. 

They decided to walk around the estate a few more times before heading home, just so they could take in the peaceful atmosphere. The street lamps above them shone a soft orange hue over the two of them and the rain eventually stopped. It never got heavy enough to wet their hair, but it made Keith's hoodie feel damp, and Toby had complained about his wet socks at one point. But they continued walking. They didn’t even say much, it was mostly silent, but a nice silence. 

A new silence. 

One minute he was thinking about Toby and the and the next he was thinking about Colbin. This whole night Keith had been ignoring the message he’d sent earlier, mainly out of fear, but maybe now was his chance to reply. Sure, it was almost 2 in the morning, but maybe he’d still be up. Or maybe he wouldn’t, and that was a good thing, cause it meat Keith had all night until he had to see his reply. 

After thinking it over again and again for a while, he pulled out his phone and opened the app. 

One new message. 

This is Victor, right? 

I sorta found out the hard way that once you block someone you can't really. unblock them 

But I needed to apologize for the other day 

I didn’t want to understand because I thought this whole time you were gay 

And if you were gay ten at least I had a chance 

But when you said you weren't I felt that chance slipping away, and I didn’t want to get hurt 

So my solution was to block you, childish right? 

I can't even begin to explain what I've been feeling this last 24 hours, other than I know I missed talking to you and i- 

“Who’s that?” Toby asked suddenly. 

Keith swerved his phone away from Toby’s view and closed it before either of them got the chace to read any more. 

“No one!” He replied quickly. 

“Since when do ‘no ones’ send people random-ass sappy paragraphs.” 

“How do you know it was sappy?” Keith asked, trying t disguise it as a joke but also trying to see how much he’d read. 

“Just a guess, it looked sappy.” He laughed before looking ahead and continuing his walk. 

Keith jogged a little to catch up to his side and they walked in silence again. But this silence was not nice, it was suffocating and full of questions. 

‘Do I tell him? What harm could it do? How am I supposed to respond to Colbin’s message? I should tell him? No, what if he freaks out? What if I can't explain it? What if he’s actually homophobic and just puts up with us because we buy him cigarettes?’ thoughts raced through his head so fast he thought he might collapse. ‘ok, no. I'm gonna tell him.’ 

“Eh Toby?” 

“mm,” he replied. 

“Can I tell you about the ‘no one’ guy?” 

“Sure” 

Here goes nothing. 

So, he spent the rest of their walk telling Toby about the guy he’d come to lov- like. He’d come to like. 

He told him all about his favourite foods, his favourite albums, almost everything he could remember about him. And with every word, Keith knew more and more that he didn’t want to lose him. 

Eventually, he stopped. Keith took a sharp inhale and felt the weight on his shoulders slowly melt away. 

They were standing directly under a street lamp now, the light glowing on both their faces. Keith didn’t meet Toby’s eyes, afraid of what he might see there. 

When he finally did, however, he did not expect to see Toby smiling. The fondest smile Keith had seen on his face in a very long time. And suddenly, like a sack of bricks, it all hit him. The little details played over and over in his head and he went over every message he and Colbin had exchanged since the previous Sunday. How the way they chatted was so familiar, how every joke was received and understood perfectly, how every story seemed to include some mystery best friend. And most importantly, how much it hurt when Keith had lost him. 

“Wait...” was all he could choke out. 

Toby met his eyes and everything finally made sense. 

“You never told me your favourite colour was brown...” He said softly. 

Keith felt like the oxygen had been sucked right out of his lungs, everything he had said, every part, was about Toby this whole time. 

“I’m gonna do a thing ok, just try not to like, pass out or something,” Toby spoke nervously. 

If Keith thought he had no oxygen before, he definitely had none now. 

Toby dipped his head down to be level with Keith's and gently pressed his lips against his. His skin was cold to the touch, and Keith knew his probably was too. Chapped lips and frozen noses, but at that moment none of that mattered. When they broke apart Keith fell against Toby’s chest and looked up at him. 

The light from the streetlamp overhead made it hard to notice until now, but when a small snowflake fell on Keith's cold nose, they knew it had begun to snow. 

“I’m really sorry,” Toby whispered. 

“What the hell for?” Keith replied. 

“That it took me so long and a fucking gay dating profile to realize.” 

“Oh.” he tried to think of a reply that was as un-cringe as humanly possible, but all he came up with was “Yea, me too.” 

Toby snickered at that. 

They stood like that for a while, just holding each other and watching the snowfall. And when the sun began to rise over the hills in the distance, they made the walk home. 

They waked in silence again, peaceful but not empty. Not anymore. It was full of future, full of things they haven't done yet, promises they’ll make each other, and words they’ll never say. 

That is, until Keith softly breaks it by asking. “What he fuck kind of name is Colbin?” 

They both laugh at that, and they're finally happy.


End file.
